Written and directed by Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab, after spending the night in a remote hotel, Mr. K is stuck in a claustrophobic nightmare when he discovers that he can’t leave the building. Starring: Crispin Glover, Sunnyi Melles, Fionnula Flanagan, Jan Gunnar Røise, Esmée van Kampen, Bjørn Sundquist and Dearbhla Molloy.
Other than the rich history of cinema that we’ve seen and loved, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why decaying, antiquated hotels make for such fantastic settings in film. Being out of time and worn, gives them this curious, creepy and sinister quality that means anything is possible. That’s exactly what Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab capitalises on with Mr. K. Once our titular magician is trapped, there’s no predicting where it might take him (other than outside, of course), who he might meet and what might happen.
However, with all those possibilities, it can make it more difficult to create a story that’s both mysterious and enjoyable to follow. You want it to be vague and eccentric enough to intrigue the audience but also have to give them enough to stay invested. In the first half of Mr. K, Schwab manages that well, it has a lot of energy and unusual personalities. It’s a classic formula of the character being dragged from one place to another while being so polite that he doesn’t put up that much of a fight to stop it. It also helps that Mr. K (Crispin Glover) himself is an interesting character, he’s not meek per se but he’s not much for conflict, there’s a spirited, enthusiastic nature to him but he also has a massively disillusioned side.
Something that is captured wonderfully by Crispin Glover, while he is so often the supporting character, he can hold his own as a leading man. It’s a shame he hasn’t had more of a chance to flex those skills over his career, he brings a huge amount of personality and a unique nature to his characters. He has a great presence and even when Mr. K starts to struggle with its momentum, he’s the reason you stay tuned in, he easily gives you that desire to need to know how it will end for his character.
Although, it’s perhaps not in the most satisfying manner. There are touches throughout Mr. K which play with horror or the supernatural, something otherworldly but they don’t weave themselves deeply enough to bolster the path it ultimately wants to take. Leading to what is a rather fizzling ending rather than a resounding one. Part of the problem being the way that the film moves in the latter half, it’s a bit sluggish and it loses the fervent, frantic nature in favour of something fatalistic which doesn’t work as well. Its charm is to be found with Glover, the fantastic ensemble behind him and their mania and madness, so when those qualities start to take a backseat, it doesn’t work as well.
While the story has its struggles, the direction, cinematography and editing work are strong throughout. The aesthetic is exactly what you want, the location is perfect, the colourings lean towards the drab greens and browns which is a very apt choice to give it a stuck in time quality. There’s something to it that throws back to the little known dark comedy Hotel Splendide starring Daniel Craig and Toni Collette, it sets itself apart from our reality ever so slightly but it’s more than enough to create a captivatingly strange atmosphere. There’s also a great use of the score, it can be intentionally overwhelming which does a wonderful job of capturing Mr. K’s panic and confusion.
Mr. K gives Crispin Glover a much deserved leading role and he brings his usual unique presence and endearing quality. Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab brings a superb style and atmosphere, but unfortunately the first half is much stronger than the second. The story begins to drift away in the later scenes and feels slow which doesn’t do justice to the entertainingly manic feel it had earlier on. As only the second feature from Schwab, after a decade gap, it shows the potential for something more, it just didn’t quite come together as strongly as it could have here.
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